Variable wire tensioning device



Nov. 21, 1933. w. D. PIERSON 1,935,725

I VARIABLE WIRE TENSIONING DEVICE Filed March 21, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet l '7 4 g 31 za .g 18 .q M

7' INVENI'OR \Villlam D.P1evson ATTORNE Nov. 21, 1933. w p PIERSON 1,935,726

VARIABLE WIRE TENSIONING DEV ICE Filed March 21, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR WilliamDPievson ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 21, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE VARIABLE TENSIONING DEVICE Connecticut Application March 21,

13 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in wire spooling devices, and more particularly to an adjustable wire tensioning device to be applied at an intermediate position between the last die on a wire drawing machine and a wire spooler.

One object of this invention is to provide a device of the above nature in which the adjustment of the wire tension is obtained by varying the amount of contact of the wire around the final drawing roll.

A further object is to provide a wire tensioning device of the above nature which will be simple in construction, inexpensive to manufacture, easy to install and manipulate, compact, and very efllcient and durable in use. I

With these and other objects in view there has been illustrated on the accompanying drawings, one form in which the invention may be conveniently embodied in practice.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 represents a view in front elevation of the wire tensioning device as it appears when attached to a wire drawing machine.

Fig. 2 is an end view of the same.

Fig. 3 is a front view similar to Fig. 1 on a reduced scale.

Fig. 4 is a sectional .view on an enlarged scale of one of the idler guide rolls, the section being taken along the line 44 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figs. 5, 5A and 5B are diagrammatic views showing three different ways in which the wire may be passed around the final drawing roll and guide rolls, with the adjusting sector arranged in its uppermost position.

Figs. 6, 6A, and 6B are diagrammatic views similar to the views shown in Figs. 3, 5 and 5A, showing three additional ways for passing the wire around the final drawing roll and guide rolls, the

adjusting sector being shown arranged in its lowermost position.

In spooling wire direct from a wire drawing machine it is of the utmost importance that the wire should be wound on the spool in such a manner that it may beconveniently taken off without kinking or bending. If the tension on' the wire as it comes to thespool is too tight, the successive-layers of wire will become crowded or even wedged together so that it is practically impossible to unwind satisfactorily. Loose winding is equally objectionable and, therefore, means of adjusting the tension or strain on the wire as it comesto the spool is an essential factor. The necessity of this adjustment becomes more apparentwhen wire is. annealed on the 1932. Serial No. 600,203

spool (a common practice), as it becomes .so soft that any resistance will cause a bend or elbow when de-spooling. Furthermore, it is obvious that varying degrees of tension are essentialdepending on the size of the wire spooled. In the past, the method of producing tight or loose winding in wire spooling has been accomplished by complicated electrical systems, brake systems, and slip-clutch mechanisms, all of which prior devices were expensive and unreliable, and could not be depended upon to produce uniformity in winding.

By means of the present invention, the above and other disadvantages have been avoided. This has been accomplished by providing a machine having a swinging sector pivotally mounted on the axis of the final drawing roll and havinga pair of idler guide rolls carried thereby. By shifting the position of said sector around its axis, the wire can be made to leave the drum at any desired point, thus changing the total length of contact and varying the tension as desired. A handle on the sector enables it to be moved to any angular position even while the machine is in operation.

In general, this invention may be likened to lifting an anchor by passing a rope around a rotating capstan with the free end of the rope traveling at substantially the same speed as the peripheral speed of the capstan. If only one turn of the rope is made around the capstan, the pull on the free end will be much greater than with two turns, and the more times the rope is passed around the capstan, the less will be the pull on the free end of the rope required. Should the rope pass only a fractional portion of the ciroumference, the pull on the rope would be almost equal to the load of the anchor; whereas it can be conceived that if a sufiicient number of turns are made around the capstan, the free end will require practically no pull whatever to lift the anchor.

Referring now to the drawings in which like reference numerals denote corresponding parts throughout the several views, the numeral 10 indicates a fragmentary section of a continuous wire side wall in any suitable manner, as by a cap screw 13a. 1

The wire 12 leaves the machine 10 through an aperture 14 in the side wall thereof, and thence passes to a final drawing roll 15 mounted on the forward end of a driven spindle shaft 16.

The spindle shaft 16 is suitably journaled on ball bearings (not shown) mounted in the end.

walls of an extension box, said box 1'7 being integrally connected to the side wall of the machine 10, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3.

In order to permit the wire 12 to be passed at least once entirely around the final drawing roll 15 and then delivered tangentially to the winding spool 36, provision is made of a plurality (two in this instance) of V-grooved guiding idler rolls 17a and 18 adjustably carried upon the opposite ends of a swinging sector 19.

The guiding idler rolls 17a and 18 are provided with interior ball bearings 20 and 21 journaled upon a pair of studs 22 and 23, said rolls 17a and 18 being retained on said studs in any suitable manner, as by washers 24 and cotter pins 25, as best shown in Fig. 4. The studs 22 and 23 are each provided with an integral collar 22a and 23a for the purpose of spacing the idler rolls 17a and 18 a suitable distance from the adjusting sector 19, and said studs 22 and 23 are rigidly secured to the sector 19 by having their end shanks 26 headed over to fit into a chamfered vbore 27.

The sector 19 is mounted at an intermediate position between the drawing roll 15 and the extension box 17, and is adapted to be rotatably adjusted around the axis of the driven spindle shaft 16 as a center, by means of an integral radially extending handle member 28. The sector is also provided adjacent the periphery thereof with an elongated arcuate slot 29 within which is located a stationary collar stud 30 having a threaded outer extremity 30a for receiving a nut' 31'adapted to be tightly screwed against the face of said sector 19 for locking it in adjusted position. The nut 31 is adapted to be manually rotated by means of an attached handle member 31a extending radially therefrom.

As'the finished wire leaves the wire tensioning device, it will travel upwardly to a stationary idler pulley 32 and will thence continue upwardly in an inclined direction to a small guide pulley 33 carried on the free end of an overhead movable swinging arm 34. From the guide pulley 33 the wire will be guided downwardly in an inclined direction through a pair of traversing guide fingers 35 to the periphery of a winding spool 36 (see Fig.3).

The winding spool 36 may be driven in any suitable manner, as by means of an endless belt 37 running around a driving pulley 38 and an idler pulley 39. The idler pulley 32 is preferably mounted on a ball bearing 40 journaled on a horizontal bearing stud 41 secured to the outer end of a support bracket 42 having threaded engagement with the side wall of the wire drawing machine 10.

Referring to Fig. 3, the spool 36 is so driven that thespeed of the wire as wound remains substantially constant, and the same or possibly a trifle less, than the surface speed of the roll 15. The perip eral speed of the spool, however, should not exceed that of the roll 15.

It will be understood that the contact of the wire 12 on the surface of the drawing roll 15 will determine the pulling force for drawing the wire through the final die 11, and consequently the greater the length of said contact around the drawing roll 15, the lower will be the tension of the wire at the winding spool 36. This action is similar to the operation of an ordinary power driven rotary capstan for lifting weights etc.

As will be apparent from Fig. 3, when the sec tor 19 is locked in position as shown, the wire 12 may be wrapped one or more times around the drawing roll 15 and will then be guided around all four of the guiding rolls 17a, 18, 22 and 33 to the winding spool 36.

By eliminating one or more of the wire guiding rolls 17a, 18 and'32, and by shifting the sector 19 about its axis by the handle 28 within the limiting positions shownin Figs. 5, 5A, 5B and 6, 6A and 6B, respectively, the length of the arc of contact of the wire 12 upon the drawing roll 15 may be varied at will for producing any desired degree of tightness of winding upon the spool 36.

One advantage of the present invention is that the position of the sector 19 may be easily changed for varying the tightness of winding of the wire being spooled without the necessity of stopping the machine.

Operation In the operation of the tensioning device, the drawing of the wire through the last die 11 on the wire machine constitutes the load corresponding to the pull to lift the anchor. The driven roll-15 corresponds to the capstan and the wire 12 attached to the spool 36 the free end of the rope. It might be assumed that the wire could be passed directly from the die 11 to the driven spool 36. This would mean the entire pull of drawing the wire through the die 11 would be carried by the rotation of the spool and obviously would pack the wire exceedingly tight. If one wrap were made around the roll 15, the pull by the spool36 would be reduced, and, if two wraps were made around the roll 15, the pull. by the spool 36 would be still further reduced. In other words, the tightness of the wire wound on the spool decreases with the number of wraps around the roll 15. It frequently happens that say one wrap around the roll 15 results in too tight winding and two wraps give too loose winding, therefore, a fractional portion of a wrap is necessary and this constitutes the main feature of the present invention.

The above fractional wrap is accomplished merely by adjusting the sector 19 for obtaining various lengths of contact of the wire on the surface of the drawing roll 15. In adjusting said sector 19 it will only be necessary for the operator to loosen the nut 31 by turning the handle member 31a in a counter clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 1, and then to manually adjust the sector to the desired angular position by means of the handle member 28.

If desired, the sector 29 may be provided with a tangent screw and gear segment (not shown) in place of the handle member 28 for producing a closer adjustment of said sector 29.

While there has been disclosed in this specification one form in which the invention may be embodied, it is to be understood that this form is shown for the purpose of illustration only, and that the invention is not to be limited to the specific disclosure but may be modified and embodied in various other forms without departing from its spirit. In short, the invention includes all the modifications and embodiments coming within the scope of the following claims.

Having thus fully described the invention, what is claimed as new, and for which it is desired to secure Letters Patent, is:

1. In a device for tensioning the wire being wound on a wire SDOOL'B, drawing roll for pulling the wire through a drawing die, and means for varying the arc of contact of the wire upon said drawing roll for delivering said wire to said winding spool at variable tension.

2. In a device for tensioning the wire being wound on a wire spool, a drawing roll for pulling the wire through a drawing die, and adjustable means for varying the arc of contact of the wire upon said drawing roll for delivering said wire to said winding spool at variable tension.

3. In a device for tensioning the wire being wound upon a spool, a drawing roll for pulling the wire through a drawing die, an idler roll shiitable about the axis of said drawing roll for varying the arc of contact of the wire upon said drawing roll for controlling the tension thereof- 4. In a device for tensioning the wire being wound upon a spool, adrawing roll for pulling the wire through a drawing die, a plurality of idler rolls shiftable about the axis of said drawing roll for varying the arc of contact of the wire upon said drawing roll for controlling the tension thereof.

5. In a device for tensioning the wire being Wound upon a winding spool, a drawing roll for pulling the wire through a drawing die, a plurality of adjustable idler rolls in combination with means for guiding the wire from said drawing roll to said winding spool, said adjustable idler rolls being shiftable aboutthe axis of said drawing roll for varying the arc of contact of the wire upon said drawing roll for controlling the tension thereof.

6. In a device for adjusting'the tension of the wire being wound upon a winding spool, a drawing roll for drawing the wire through a drawing die, a plurality of idler rolls, an adjustable plate for pivotally supporting the idler rolls. means for guiding the wire from said idler rolls to said winding spool, means for adjusting the angular position of said plate so that said idler rolls may guide the Wire tangentially off from said drawing roll at differentcircumferential points, and

means for locking said adjusting plate in adjusted position.

7. In a device for adjusting the tension of the wire being wound upon a winding spool, a drawing roll for drawing the wire through a drawing die a plurality of idler rolls, an adjustable sectorshaped plate for pivotally supporting the idler rolls, means for guiding the wire from said idler rolls to said winding spool, means for adjusting the angular position of said plate so that said idler rolls may guide the wire tangentially ofi from said drawing roll at difierent circumferential points, and means for locking said adjusting plate inadjusted position.

8. In a device for adjusting the tightness of winding wire upon a spool, a drawing roll for drawing the wire through the final drawing die of a wire drawing machine, a driven arbor for supporting and rotating said drawing roll, a pair of idler rolls, a sector plate rotatably mounted on the axis of said roll for pivotally supporting said idler rolls, said sector plate having an arcuate slot, a stationary stud protruding through said arcuate slot for limiting the swing of said sector plate, locking means fitted upon said stud for holding said sector plate in adjusted position.

9. In adevice for adjusting the tightness of wire being wound upon a spool, a drawing roll for drawing the wire through the final drawing die of a wire drawing machine, a pair of idler rolls, a sector plate rotatably mounted on the axis of said drawing roll for pivotally supporting said idler rolls, said sector plate having an arcuate slot, a stationary stud protruding through said arcuate slot for limiting the swing of said sector plate, locking means fitted upon said stud for holding said sector plate in adjusted position.

10. In a device for adjusting the tightness of wire being wound upon a spool, a drawing roll for drawing the wire through the final drawing die of a wire drawing machine, a driven arbor for supporting and rotating said drawing roll, a pair of idler rolls, a sector plate rotatably mounted on the axis of said drawing roll for pivotally supporting said idler rolls, said sector plate having an' arcuate slot, a stationary stud protruding through said arcuate slot for limiting the swing of said sector plate, locking means for holding said sector plate in adjusted position.

11. In a device for adjusting the tightness of a wire being wound upon a spool, a drawing roll for drawing the wire through the final drawing die of a wire drawing machine, a pair of idler rolls, a sector plate rotatably mounted on the axis of said drawing roll for pivotally supporting said idler rolls, said sector plate having an arcuate slot, a stationary stud protruding through said arcuate slot for limiting the swing of said said drawing roll while said roll is in motion to adjust the tension in said wire as it leaves said r011. I

13. In a device for tensioning wire being wound on a winding mechanism, a drawing roll for pulling the wire through a drawing die, and means for varying the arc of contact of the wire upon said drawing roll for delivering said wire to said winding mechanism at variable tension.

- WILLIAM D. PIERSON. 

